It is clear that the control of the railways by
Sir Eric Geddes has not made for economy. Despite the large increase in passenger fares and goods rates, the railways are now working at a loss, which the Times estimates at f45,000,000 for the year ending with March. The Government are liable under the railway agreement to make good this deficit and any further losses sustained up to the end of July, when the agreement terminates. It would of course be unfair to attribute the whole loss to State control, for the miners' strike, the decline of trade, and the immense increase in railwaymen's wages, coupled with the reduction of 'their working day, have all contributed to the deficit. Nevertheless, it is certain that the railway companies, if freed from the paralyzing control of the Ministry of Transport, would have tried harder to balance their revenue and expenditure. At present they have no incentive to economize. State-controlled undertakings never have.
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